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The Climate
Chaves covered by fog in the winter (Photo J.B. Cesar) Chaves has a transitional climate between humid Atlantic and continental, characterized by cold winters and hot, dry summers. The location in a river valley surrounded by hills protects it from cold winds, but the river valley does cause winter fog, although this rarely lasts past midday. The rainfall is 800 to 1000 mm. The
average annual temperature is around 14C, compared with 16C in Lisbon. Normal
climatic values are: Average
temperature in ºC
Chaves
does not usually appear on any weather report, but The
Weather Channel has a report, which can not be relied on A typical winter day in January is characterized by cold fog hanging over the river valley.
A
drive of 15 minutes in any direction and you are out in the sun.
On these foggy days there is usually frost, which can appear on
as many as 15 days a year. Temperatures
in January can go as low as minus 5 at night and sometimes only reach 5
positive during the day. But
these cold spells usually last for only a day or two.
In February it is not common to have sunny days with daytime
temperatures of 15. Snow
is rare in the valley—occurring once or twice ever five
years—and melts quickly. The
neighboring hills often receive snow in a major storm.
Old timers are unanimous in saying that winters in the past were
much harsher. They talk of
fog hanging over the valley for weeks at a time and frequent snowfalls.
Just thirty km away in the mountains of the Barroso snow would
fall as late as April. In
fact in 1928 it snowed in July during the harvest of the rye crop. The
winter chill in Chaves is felt down to the last degree, because few
houses or flats are built for it. Central
heating and double-glazed windows are only now beginning to be installed,
and at a very high cost. Only
the rich can afford it. Many
shops keep their doors open so that customers will know the owners are
open for business, so you don’t warm up by leaving the street. Spring is a time of renewal with acacias and almond trees turning bright yellow. It also brings allergies like hay fever, which afflict many people in the town. Daytime temperatures are usually around 15C. The summer is dry and hot, but not oppressively so. Daytime temperatures are around 25C and rarely pass 30C. At night the temperature usually drops to around 15C. Even on a hot day nights are usually comfortable. Mosquitos and flies are also not a great problem and few houses have screens. The major problem in the summer is the haze caused by fires. The summer of 2002 was especially bad as there wasn't a day when a plume of smoke couldn't be seen on the horizon. These fires are usually caused by pyromaniacs, agricultural burning gone astray, or a cigarette tossed out of a car window. Autumn is like spring temperature wise but can be rainy. The trees are strikingly beautiful as they begin to lose their leaves. October in Chaves sees temperatures around 18 during the day and 8 at night. A final word must be said about the winter of 2000-2001, which was one of the wettest on record. Chaves, like large areas of the north of Portugal, suffered day after day of rain. There were several major floods, and for the first time in years the traffic circle in front of E. Leclerc supermarket was completely covered with water. Sandbags were even put in front of the supermarket doors. It is too early to know if these rainy winters will continue, validating the theory of global warming, or if this last winter was a rarity. For hay fever sufferers though, it was a godsend. There was almost no pollen in the air at springtime. Click here for another picture of the 2000-2001 flood. The last winter--2001-2002 was a cold and dry one, very different from 2000-2001. The temperature in December dropped way below zero on several days. Streams completely froze over and even the Tâmega had ice on the edges. Talking to locals, this phenomenon had not been seen in years. Spring of 2002 has taken a long time to arrive, but it is finally here. After a burst of rain in February and March the warm, dry days are here. At the time of this writing--March 24, 2002--the temperature is expected to reach 25C.
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